Joe Kubachka was a highly successful boys basketball coach at Hartford Public from 1951 to 1966.
He took the Owls to unprecedented heights. The 1960-1961 team defeated Wilbur Cross New Haven in Boston Garden to win the New England Championship, the first official title in basketball in school history. That team finished 22-3 and was led by Hall of Famers Griffin, Poole, and Kostek.
The 1961-1962 team won the CIAC Class A Title defeating cross town rival Bulkeley in the final, 67-64. Then, in the New England Final defeated Bulkeley for a 4th time that year, 47-39, to win the New England Championship for a second consecutive year. This group finished with an overall record of 21-4.
Kubachka compiled 209-93 record at HPHS, the wins second to Stan Piorkowski's (HOF) total of 249. His teams won seven city titles (four outright) and eight conference titles (four outright).
He coached many of HPHS's best players ever and they earned various honors such as All-City, All-Conference, All-State, All-New England, and All-American. Some of those greats include Eddie Griffin, Stan Poole, Jim Benedict, Sonny Thomas, Stan Egnat, Tom Karanda, Bill Jones, Patrick Burke, and Len Kostek.
In 2003 Joe Kubachka was inducted into the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.